Losing You
by sapphicsharks
Summary: House hired another doctor to help him and his team with their ever increasing workload. Everything was going fine, until she starts acting strangely around everyone, and is unable to perform her job / tw: eating disorders (set mid season 2)
1. Chapter 1

"Sorry I'm late! The traffic was-"

"Yes, the traffic was really bad, I know. Funny though, because it was fine when I left."

House's newest doctor, Dr Stokes, had been late to work every day for the last two weeks. And yet, House didn't even try to discipline her.

As Stokes sat down at the large glass desk, House began describing the symptoms of their most recent case.

"32 year old female... arrhythmia... numbness... dizziness..." 

All the words were drifting in and out of Stokes' ears, and she was almost asleep.

"Stokes!"

"Huh? Wha- oh right yes. Symptoms. Conditions."

"So? What have we got?"

"Uh, well, those signs seem to point to peripheral neuropathy."

"Good. And what would you do about this diagnosis?"

"Get her tested for alcohol poisoning? And check her vitamin levels."

"Okay. Great. Thanks. Foreman, Chase, you go do that. Cameron and Stokes, I need to talk to the two of you."

The two men left the room, and Allison Cameron and Taylor Stokes were left with their boss.

"Taylor, I'd like to speak to you first. Cameron, can you wait in the other room?"

"Sure _boss._ "

When he was sure Cameron had left the room, House turned to Stokes, and sat down opposite her.

"What's going on?"

"What?"

"Something's going on. I can tell. You're late for work everyday. You can barely stay awake, and you're constantly lagging behind the others. I want to know what's wrong so I can help."

"Nothing's wrong. And even if it was, I don't need your help. I work in a hospital - I can get help here."

"Ah, so it's medical. Right."

"What?"

"I didn't even bring up illnesses, yet you went straight to the idea of hospitals."

"Whatever. I'm fine and I don't need help. Just let me get on with my work."

Before he had a chance to reply, Taylor had stormed out of the room, slamming the glass door behind her.

House winced, then motioned for Cameron to join him.

She came in and sat down where Taylor had been a few seconds earlier.

"What was that all about?"

"I don't know. Which is why I'm asking you. What's going on with Taylor?"

"How would I know?"

"She's the only other girl on this team and we both know you need someone to talk to, and frankly, Cuddy isn't quite cutting it for you. So. Spill the beans. What's wrong with our little Taylor?"

"I don't- I don't know. She won't talk to me about anything. She hardly talks to any of us anymore."

"Well then, what changed? She used to talk to us. What happened? Why is she so distant?" 

He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts, then addressed Cameron again.

"I need you to do some detective work. Find out what's wrong with Taylor. Whatever it is, it's preventing her from working properly, so we need to sort it out asap. Report back to me if you find anything."


	2. Chapter 2

Cameron left House's office, and ran to catch up with Stokes.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know. Maybe the fact that you stormed out of House's office and now you're trying to get away from me?"

"I'm not trying to get away from you - I'm trying to get to the patient. Not everything is about you."

Before Cameron had a chance to respond, Stokes stormed off in the direction of the ICU. Cameron was left standing, open-mouthed in the hallway, unsure of where to go next.

Stokes arrived at the patient's room just as Chase and Foreman were finishing up. They went over her charts, then left, leaving Stokes to deal with the patient.

"Are you okay?"

She turned around from where she was adjusting the IV, and saw the patient looking at her worriedly.

"I'm fine. Why do you care?"

"Your hands are shaking."

She looked down at her hands to see that her fingers were trembling rapidly.

"Oh, it's no big deal. I'm just tired."

She continued in silence for a few minutes, then turned to leave. As she did, she reached out to grab the end of the bed, her breathing heavy.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I told you, I'm fine."

She walked away from the bed, her feet unsteady, and her heart racing.

Just as she got to the sliding door, her vision went black, and she collapsed.

"Nurse! NURSE!"

Two nurses in pink scrubs rushed into the room, almost tripping over Stokes in the process. They were expecting the sick person to be the actual sick person, instead of the person trying to make everyone better.

They knelt down next to Stokes and checked her breathing and pulse, then looked up at the patient.

"What happened?"

Before she could reply, a voice came from outside the room.

"She collapsed due to lack of energy. She's been starving herself."

The nurses looked in the direction of the voice, and saw House standing just beyond the doorway.

"How can you know that? You only just got here."

"Yes, that may be true, but has it occurred to you that I see her everyday? Or that I've got my whole team looking out for her and reporting back to me? Get her in a bed. She needs fluids and nutrients asap, and then she'll be fine."

He left the room without saying a word to his actual patient, and the three women were left staring at each other.

"Okay team. What symptoms have we got?"

"Why are we doing this? We all know what's wrong with her."

"Yes I know. But where's the fun in skipping the diagnosis? I am a diagnostician after all."

"Yeah, but she's-"

"Can someone who isn't Cameron please tell me what our darling Stokes' symptoms are?"

Silence descended on the room, and the team avoided eye contact with House.

"No reply? Okay. Foreman, go. Give us a list."

"Uhh, dizziness, fainting, shaking-" House wrote the symptoms as theywere listed.

"Great. Now go see her."

"I wasn't-"

"Yes I know. Cameron, Chase, go check on the other patient."

They all stood up and went their separate ways, and House was left in the office by himself.


End file.
